‘Defrauded Reign’ is the debut album from the thrash metal band Omicida. The band was originally formed in Los Angeles, US in 2014 by drummer Giovanni Durst (ex-White Wizzard). They relocated to The UK in 2018, a few years after the release of their first EP ‘Certain Death’.

This is one of cases where the content is an exact match to its description. If it is classic thrash metal you are after then you have come to the right place. Most of the focus is on the guitars, with powerful and fast riffs dominating the album. The vocals are what you would expect to hear from your average thrash metal band, in other words aggressive shouting to match to overall pace of the music. These guys rarely slow down and they do not play any ballads. Most of the tracks are either medium or fast paced with the exception of the ambient, instrumental intermission Burn The Cross and melodic guitar parts in the intro to Divide Uncertainty.

If you like the fast and ferocious side of thrash metal, then State of Terror is the song for you. I reckon that Slayer fans would enjoy this one. It follows a fairly straightforward formula of aggressive vocals, a barrage of guitar riffs and fast drumming. It’s full steam ahead right from the start so you better hold on tight… Then there are a few songs with a more complex structure such as the aforementioned Divine Uncertainty with its deceptively melodic instrumental intro and the more technical-sounding guitars on The Supremacist. So there is more to this than just Slayer worship. It would appear though these guys have been listening not just Slayer but a whole range of old-school thrash metal bands including Kreator and Testament, all of which have left a mark on their signature sound.

Overall, ‘Defrauded Reign’ offers eleven solid works of uncompromising modern thrash metal. It maintains the right balance of aggression, speed and melody without becoming too fast or overly complex.

Bloody Times
On A Mission
Released 11th January 2019
Heavy Metal
Self-Released

‘On A Mission’ is the second album from the German heavy metal band Bloody Times. The band started as a solo project of bassist Simon Pfundstein back in 2014. He was later joined by two former members of Iced Earth, drummer Raphael Saini and vocalist John Greedy. This album also features guest performances from various heavy metal musicians including Ross Friedman aka Ross the Boss (ex-Manowar).

The first thing that struck me when listening to this album was how much it reminded me of old Iced Earth. Luckily I happen to like old Iced Earth, so it’s good to hear John Greedy behind the mike again. The mid-paced opening track Alliance is one of the more melodic songs on here. I guess that this was meant to be some sort of classic metal ballad and as such it works reasonably well. I just wish that they would have omitted the progressive, ponderous and slow guitar parts mid-way through the song. It’s not the best start to the album but luckily what follows is the energetic, thrash metal style Fort Sumter– easily my favourite song on here due to excellent guitar work and powerful vocals. Now that’s more like it! If only this track was the first one….

Die In A Hole also has that thrash metal vibe to it; it is more varied in pace, not quite as fast ‘Fort Sumter’ but not too slow either. There is a good range of guitar riffs and Mr. Greedy manages to find the right balance between low pitched shouting and clean vocals to match the tone of the music. I also like the reworked version of Curse of Genevieve. What lets this album down is a short track called The Warning (Until Blood Boils pt.1) which falls under the category of what I commonly refer to as “filler”. I honestly do not know what I found more irritating, the strange vocal effects or the ultra dull-sounding, doom metal style guitar riffs plodding along in the background. Time to skip this. Next! Luckily the part 2 marks a return to the fast and aggressive heavy metal.

Overall, despite its flaws, ‘On A Mission’ is a good heavy metal album which I would recommend to fans of old Iced Earth.

Igniter, Lost SocietyOlympia, Tampere, Finland28th December 2018

Last gig of 2018! The Christmas holidays are over and the New Year’s Eve is just around the corner. The days in between these two holidays tend to be rather dull and there is not a hell of a lot do. So I had a look to see what metal shows were on. Mortiis was in town but since this was part of their Era 1 tour (the dark ambient albums) I decided to give it a miss. I am not that much into dark ambient and it is not something that I would like to hear live. Then I spotted an advert for a thrash metal night at Olympia. I’ve seen Lost Society live at South Park Festival back in the summer but I did not know anything about the other band Igniter other than that they also play thrash metal.

After some research I discovered that Igniter are a local band with only one self-released EP. Luckily that did not stop them from putting on one hell of a show. They played some solid, old-school thrash metal, fast and full of energy just like it should be. I was really impressed with their performance and I hope to hear more from them soon. 4.5/5

Lost Society is one of those bands who command a sizable fan-base though I honestly cannot comprehend why. It is not so much that their music is bad. It is fairly decent-sounding thrash metal but I simply could not get into it. All the songs sounded similar and it felt as though the band were trying too hard to act like some major rock stars on stage. For example the singer was often switching from Finnish (his native tongue) to Americanized English while addressing the crowd. There were only a handful of memorable moments during the show: the part when they got a running mosh-pit going and a guitar solo towards the end of their set. 2.5/5

Overall it was a fun night out. Igniter far exceeded my expectations and their show was the better one of the night. Lost Society have their fans but after watching another mediocre performance by them I do not count myself among them.

Green Death
Hallowmass
Released 19th October 2018
Thrash Metal
Released via Combat Records

It’s been two years since I reviewed Green Death’s last album. Now the Iowa-based American thrash metal band is back with a new album called ‘Hallowmass’. I like the title, very well timed for this year’s Halloween…

The horror themes are difficult to miss as evidenced not only from the cover art but also from the song titles. Oh yes, Halloween is upon us. Get ready for your annual onslaught of werewolves, ghosts, witches and other spooky things. As far as the music goes, this is not far from where they left off with the previous album. They still remind me of mid-career Iced Earth. The predominant style is thrash metal but some tracks have a droning doom metal feel to them such as the slow and eerie-sounding She Couldn’t Live. The guitar work on that song actually made me think of Black Sabbath. They also occasionally incorporate elements of melodic death metal like the semi-growling vocals and the shredding guitars on The Betrayed – one of the more aggressive tracks on here.

The short instrumental Messis Diaboli is a beautiful, melodic piece which highlights the skill of the guitarists. Then it’s back to an unholy brew of thrash, doom and melodic death metal for the remainder of the album. It is not an easy mix for the listener to process. The vocals vary from howling to semi-growling. Personally I prefer the latter.

In summary, I had a hard time getting into ‘Hallowmass’. I was really hoping that this would be like Iced Earth’s ‘Horror Show’ album. Instead what we have here is an amalgamation of various styles which do not really work so well together. Some of the songs sound as though they were performed by a completely different band.

The Danish thrashers Artillery have recently announced that will be co-headlining ‘Thrash Til Death’ European tour along with Onslaught starting in Oberhausen, Germany next month. They will be joined by their Greek brethren Exarsis and Chronosphere.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of their ‘Terror Squad’ album so their fans can expect to hear some of the classics from the band’s early days along with new material from their last opus ‘Penalty By Perception’.

Trauma As The World DiesReleased 11th May 2018Thrash Metal/Heavy Metal Released via The Orchard

‘As The World Dies’ is the third album from the American thrash metal band Trauma. The band was originally formed by vocalist Donny Hillier in 1980 during the Bay Area Thrash Metal movement. The original line-up featured bassist Cliff Burton who then went on to join Metallica. Following the release of their debut album in 1984, the band went on a long hiatus before reforming again in 2013. The current line-up includes Greg Christian (ex-Testament) and former Danzig guitarist Joe Fraulob.

At first I thought that this was going to be one of those straightforward, classic thrash metal albums with fast, aggressive songs and shouting vocals. It turns out that’s not actually the case, there’s more to it than just that. The unmistakable Bay Area thrash metal sound is definitely present, audible in opening riffs and the drums on tracks such as the guitar-driven From Here to Hell. However, in addition to that there are also some more classic heavy metal elements such as melodic vocals, which reminded me a little of early Iron Maiden and to some extent Ozzy Osbourne. The guitar style and pace varies depending on the song ranging from the fast and furious to the melodic and more technical such as the title track.

Last Rites caught my attention as one of the slower tracks on here and probably the closest thing to a ballad. This time the guitars take a backseat and the song highlights Mr. Hillier’s impressive vocal range. Great vocals and an emotional performance. But, if you’re not a fan of ballads have no fear for there’s more ferocious thrash metal to come.

Overall ‘As World The World Dies’ turned out to be more complex than I originally thought. It’s a good mix of Bay Area thrash metal and classic heavy metal with enough variety to please fans of both genres.

Speed Metal Party is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. It was originally held in Tampere back in 1988 with local thrash metal legends Dethrone and Prestige. Now thirty years on, they decided to re-create the same line-up as it was back then with some new additions in the form of death-thrashers Dead Samaritan and Canadian speed-metal band Razor. For the Canadians, this was their very first show in Finland.

First up was Dead Samaritan, a female-fronted death-thrash metal band. They reminded me of mid-career Arch Enemy, a good mix of melodic death metal and thrash metal. It was good performance even if it started out a bit slow. 3.5/5

Next up was a local thrash metal band Menticide who haven’t played a live show since 1992. They were brought in from retirement specially for this occasion. I couldn’t really get into their show. The music sounded a bit demo-esque at times. The vocalist didn’t have much of a stage presence. 2/5

Dethrone have been around since the late 1980s. They keen to share some stories from the past and pay to their fallen brother, bassist Jouni Rinta. I really enjoyed their show, especially their cover of The Misfits ‘Last Caress’.5/5

Prestige was originally formed about the same time as Dethrone, then had a long-ish break but they are nowadays very much active again. They are one of the more established bands in the local thrash metal scene. By the time they came on stage the venue was packed and there was a mosh-pit forming. These guys don’t take themselves too seriously.They clearly like to add humour to their lyrics and crack a few jokes during the show. Maybe a bit too many jokes at times. I can’t fault the music though. It was a good show. 4/5

Then it was time for the night’s main headliners – Razor. As mentioned earlier, this was their very first time in Finland and I sincerely hope that it will not be their last. This was my favorite performance of the night. Top class speed metal. The highlight for me was when they played ‘Evil Invaders’. 5/5

In summary I had a great time at Speed Metal Party. I’m not that well versed in Finnish thrash metal but that didn’t stop me from enjoying Prestige and Dead Samaritan. Razor were excellent live. Happy Anniversary Speedy Metal Party! 30 years and still going strong…